The Pix!
The Year in Pictures
Hartford HealthCare’s photographers are all over the place, documenting momentous occasions and small, meaningful snippets in the life of our system. We asked them to look back at 2019 and share their favorite images. From the hundreds they take, these are they ones they chose and why.
Photos by Chris Rakoczy
Passing the time
Cancer sucks. It has touched my immediate family twice. I can appreciate the value in being able to face it with loved ones and gain some sense of normalcy throughout treatment. In this case, it’s simply by playing a game of chess with a friend.
Neither rain nor tornado warnings
The skies looked ominous and tornado warnings were issued at the grand opening of the HHC HealthCenter in Manchester, but the event wasn’t cancelled. It was moved indoors. The experience reminded me how the care we provide doesn’t get canceled either — that there are always, ALWAYS people throughout our system caring for patients whose injuries and illnesses don’t get to be postponed by inclement weather.
Stars Dancing for Parkinson's
This is a meaningful image because cancer and Parkinson’s have affected my immediate family. And it was just plain fun to see East Region President Donna Handley win the Stars Dancing for Parkinson’s fundraiser last spring.
Photos by Jeff Evans
Little red hats
As part of the American Heart Association’s Little Hats, Big Hearts campaign during American Heart Month in February, little Adrianna Holmes, daughter of Alivia Wooten and Chad Holmes of Canterbury, was given a red hat as part of her official welcome at Backus Hospital. Adrianna slept through the whole thing!
Hard at work
I always enjoy the chance to be in the operating room for a photo or video shoot. Here, Neurosurgeon Mark Hornyak, MD, left, and orthopedic surgeon Michael Halperin, MD, right, perform a surgical spine procedure, with the help of images taken with the robotic O-arm for pinpoint accuracy.
A team approach
The Hartford HealthCare East Region was well represented during the 2019 Eastern Connecticut Heart Walk in Uncasville. There’s nothing fancy about this photo, although I created it using three or four separate frames combined into one panoramic shot. What I like about it is the feeling of teamwork and support for a good cause.
Photos by Rusty Kimball
High tech, high touch
Everyone loves baby photos. What’s not to like? I’ve taken lots of them during my career as a healthcare photographer, but never like this. What is different about this photo is the combination of high tech and high touch in The Hospital of Central Connecticut’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Despite being surrounded by a maze of monitors, wires and technology, mom, with the nurse’s reassuring hand on her shoulder, is able to put her hands through the openings on the incubator and touch her baby. Now that’s a fitting “moment” for Moments magazine!
The healing power of music
Billy Joel once said, “I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.” That’s why I like this photo. It shows Laura Famulare, part of the Music Therapy Program “Soundtrack of My Life,” making a meaningful connection with one of our Jefferson House residents. You can see not only the joy on both their faces, but, as Joel said, the “explosive expression of humanity.”
Noble service
As a Vietnam veteran myself, this picture hits home for me. Everyone should respect and honor those who serve their countries, and this wasn’t always the case after Vietnam. It gave me great pride to take this photo, and capture the moment when World War II veteran John Faenza, a Cedar Mountain Commons resident who participated in a heroic mission in Normandy, received the French Legion of Honor Medal.